Shower curtain



P. BLATT June 10, 1952 SHOWER CURTAIN Filed Oct. 51, 1950 Patented June 10, 1952 U NI TED STATES PATEN T "O FF 1 CE SHOWER CURTAIN Perry-Butt, Chicago, 111. Application October 31, 1950,'S'elial N0."1 9 3, 2"13 'This invention relates generally to bathroom shower curtains and more particularly to the type of shower curtain which is slidably supported on a bar, so as to be capable of being grawn to one side when not in use.

Conventional shower curtains comprise a sheet of flexible material, which may be fabric or plastic, having a plurality of grommets or eyes along its'upper edge for attachment to a plurality of slidable hooks which ride on a supporting bar. Thus, these curtains may be extended along the rod so as toenclose the shower bath, with'each of the hooks spaced a distance from the adjacent hooks, or the curtain may be pushed'to one end of the rod in a'gathered position with the hooks in close proximity to one another. 'The grommets, or eyes, are usually spaced at least six inches apart, with the result that the'portions of the curtain intermediate the grommets tend to sag downwardly, giving the top of the curtain a rather unattractive, scalloped appearance and causi'ngfi'itto fall inapredetermined pleated relationship which often does not exhibit the design 'of the curtain "to best advantage either when it is gathered at one-end or extended along the s'u'pportin'g ba'r.

Moreover, "the sagging of ithe curtain between the gr'o'fn'm'ets in addition "to spoiling the appearance of "the top thereof distorts any design provided =on'the surface of thecu'r' tain and aftera period or "timemay e'ff'ectfperm'ahent deformation of 'the'curtain. Alsofthesaggin'g tendsto weaken thecurtain, inasmuchas "theweight is supported at thespaced eyes or grommets which are themselves unattractivein appearance; 7

Accordingly, animportan't 'ob'jeCt of this invention isto provide animproved showercurtain, and an arrangement for supporting same, in which the-unsightly bar, grommets and hooks are concealed from view on both sides of the curtain, particularly thefront side, and in which the curtain is supported in'such fashion as to minimize 2 Claims. (01. 160-124) Ill Another object is to provide a shower "curtain havingan attractive-flap which not only'servesto conceal the bar and hooks upon which the curtain is-supported, but also gives the illusion of an independently supp'orted valance at the "top' of the curtain.

'A further object is to provide an arrangement for-keeping the supporting bar and hooks dryat all times in order to prevent their corrosionand the resultant discoloration of the curtain.

Other objects and advantages of the shower curtain and the-novel supporting'arrangement of this inventionwill' 'present=themselves to those familiar with the art upon reading the following specificationiin conjun'ctionwith the drawingand the appe'ndedclaims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a front'vi'ew of ashower curtain'cons'tructed in accordance with this invention, the curtain being shown in a partially drawn positionon a supporting :bar;

Fig. 2is an edge viewiofthe curtain and bar;

Fig. 3 is a 'view'similar toFig. 2 showing the curtain with the valance portion folded downwardly to permit attachment or detachment or the curt'ain to or from the hooksyand 'Fig.-4 is an enlarged section through the upper fold or theshower curtain -showing the preferred arrangement of 'material for maximum strength.

A fundamental concept/of this invention is to provide a shower curtain 'having a means'at'its upper end for slidable attachment-to asuppo'rting bar and alflexibleflap 'detachably or permanently secured tothecurtain at its upper "end adapted to be folded over the bar-'andth'e supporting means to'enclosesame.

The preferred form of shower curtain l0, shown in the drawing, comprises a'rectangular piece of fa'liria-o'r other fiexible sheet material I I, aplurality of grommets T2, anda ruffle lil. The sheet of material '11 is preferably double, rowed as shown in 'Fig. 4 for reinforcement and strength, or fol'ded back upon itself in-a single fold-along the upper=edge as indicated at "Min Fig.3, and the grommets {'2 are attached along the folddine. 'In "the preferredform (Fig-4), a separate piece is'provided whose upper edge-'is'receiv'ed detacha'bly or permanently "betweenthe folds with the Tree portion-forming a flaplil, whereas irrFig. 3 the flap'isa continuation ofthe mainshee't of material. "Stitchingis indicate'd'at cated at l5. In the case of fabric curtains it is preferred to stitch the hem, the fold line and the rufile in the conventional manner, but in the case of plastic or elastomer curtains it may be preferable to fuse the material together at these points by local heating.

The shower curtain I is attached to the supporting bar (6 by a plurality of hooks H, the hooks being of the conventional type which are similar to large safety pins, the sharp ends being received in enclosing recesses when the hooks are closed to prevent damage to the curtain. To hang the curtain, the hooks I! are preferably first slipped over the bar it and left in the open position. The flap I8 at the top of the curtain is left hanging in the position shown in Fig. 3, while each hook is passed through one of the grommets 12. When all of the hooks have been secured, the flap portion I8 is then thrown upwardly over the bar l6 as indicated by the arrows 20 to the position shown in Figs. 1 and'2, completely enclosing the bar, the hooks and the grommets. Upon examination of the drawing it will be noted that the ruflle i3 is so attached to the flap l8 that the front of the flap faces the back of the curtain in its initial position and faces the same direction as the shower curtain after the flap has been thrown over the bar Hi.

When the valance-like flap has been thrown over the bar 16, it will be noted that it falls in a very attractive arrangement, each of the hooks ll causing a slight bulge along: the top of the bar 16 which breaks the straight line thereof. This effect is, of course, augmented when the curtain is gathered as shown at the left-hand side of Fig. 1. In addition to concealing and protecting the bar, hooks and grommets from moisture which might cause corrosion and staining of the curtain material, the valance-like portion 18 also serves to support some of the weight of the curtain l I and prevents, to a large measure, the sagging between the grommets which heretofore has distorted the appearance of the curtain.

Thus it will be noted that the top and bottom of the curtain follows a substantially straight line rather than being scalloped with high points at each grommet. This not only improves the appearance of the curtain, but also increases the strength and life thereof by taking some of the strain off the grommets and preventing permanent deformation due to suspension for long periods of time at spaced points.

When it is desired to take the curtain down for cleaning or other purposes, it is a very simple matter merely to thrown the valance portion I8 back over the bar 16 and unhook the hooks I! so that the curtain may be removed in the conventional fashion.

It will be appreciated that the curtain of this invention may be made in different ways and still function as described. For example, as already mentioned, the valance portion [8 may be a separate'piece of material merely stitched or otherwise attached to the main piece I I as shown in Fig. 4. If this is done, the entire valance portion may be a ruflle or it may be made of a different material to give a contrast of color or texture. Moreover, a different arrangement than individual hooks and grommets such as hooks and eyes or straps and snaps might be used to slidably attach the curtain to the bar I6.

Furthermore, if the shower curtain does not have a definite front and back, as may be the case with plain material, it makes little difieronce which side is to the front, as the flap can still be looped over the supporting bar to conceal it and the hooks.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that a superior shower curtain has been provided which not only is more attractive in appearance, but also which has longer wearing qualities and otherwise fulfills the objects of this invention.

Various changes and modifications in addition to those set forth herein may be made without departing from the spirit of this invention whose scope is commensurate with the following claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A shower curtain of a type to be slidably supported on a bar to be extended the full length of the bar or bunched in folds at one end of the bar, said curtain comprising a sheet of flexible material of a width extendable the length of the bar, means upon the upper edge of said curtain for attaching same to said supporting bar at a plurality of horizontally spaced weight bearing points, and a flexible flap extending the width of said sheet and attached to the back of said sheet of flexible material along the upper edge thereof, said flap being of a depending length suflicient to loop upwardly and over said supporting bar and to hang downwardly from the supporting bar to a level well below said supporting means to conceal the bar and the supporting means when the flap is moved to such position, the depending portion of said flap as looped over the bar in such position being of sufficient weight to assist in supporting said sheet of flexible material between said spaced points to prevent sagging of the sheet of flexible material between said spaced points.

2. A shower curtain for use with a bar having a plurality of hooks slidably supported thereon, said curtain comprising a sheet of flexible material having a plurality of horizontally spaced eyes near its upper edge, each of said eyes being received on one of said hooks, and a flap of flexible material extending the width of said sheet and attached thereto along the upper edge thereof adjacent to said eyes, said flap being of a depending length long enough to loop upwardly and over said supporting bar and hooks to hang downwardly from the supporting bar to a level well below said eyes to conceal the bar, hooks, and eyes when the flap is moved to such position on both sides of the sheet, said depending flap being of sufficient length and width when so looped to assist in supporting said sheet against sagging between said eyes.

PERRY BLATT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 793,854 Spickerman July 4, 1905 2,083,991 Geller June 15, 1937 2,128,911 Brooks Sept. 6, 1938 2,131,156 Yardley Sept. 27, 1938 2,547,697 Gallo Apr. 3, 1951 

